Colossians 3:10

Scripture Explained · Pairs with New Beginnings

“And have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator.”

Colossians 3:10 · World English Bible

What it meant then

The “putting off” and “putting on” language in this verse describes actual clothing, and early Christians would have heard it as more than a figure of speech. Many churches in this period baptized new believers by having them remove their old clothes beforehand and dress in new ones afterward, a physical picture of leaving one identity behind and stepping into another. Paul writes to a congregation at Colossae gathered from very different backgrounds and tells them their old way of living belongs to a self they have already taken off.

“After the image of his Creator” reaches back to Genesis, where humanity was first formed in God's likeness. Paul is pointing his readers to their original design, the one sin had worn down and obscured. The Greek verb behind “is being renewed” sits in the present tense, describing an ongoing process, a lifelong return to the shape they were always meant to hold.

What Matthew Henry wrote

Henry saw this renewal as reaching the whole person, not merely outward behavior: “The gospel changes the higher as well as the lower powers of the soul.” He also noted what this new identity dissolves between believers: “There is now no difference from country, or conditions and circumstances of life” — the old distinctions of background and status give way to a common new identity in Christ.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, on Colossians 3:10